Jenner's Blog: Summer is here!

I've just walked an hour and a half in cold drizzle through London's streets to get into VFHQ, but it's given
me time to contemplate that perhaps tube drivers should indeed be paid more (I'd be a rubbish Prime Minister).

Then
I made the big mistake of checking the weather forecast for Inverness this weekend. I really should have known better. Looks
like I'll be wearing my wellies on the plane up to RockNess - could be awkward if I
have to take my shoes off through customs. Still, I can't wait - I've never been before and I'm genuinely very
excited. Things are looking a bit better for our teams at Download and Isle of Wight.

Over
the last few weeks I've been getting out there and chatting to all the major festival organisers about their thoughts
and experiences over the last decade, tying in with VF's 10th Birthday this year. It's been a fascinating experience.
I think, when you read some of the interviews, you'll be as surprised as I was to see just how utterly passionate these
characters are about their events, and for the right reasons. No less so than any smaller, independent festival organiser.
It's just that events of this scale, in this day and age, need to have a big corporate machine wrapped around them to
sustain them. These festivals cost tens of millions of pounds to stage, and with all the health and safety requirements, as
much as anything else, I can see how you need that structure in place. I detected hints of frustration from several of these
guys at having to operate within this corporate framework and the fact that it distorts how the public perceives their creative
integrity.

You can read the first parts of our interviews here with John
Probyn (Download, Hard Rock Calling, Wireless) and John
Giddings (Isle of Wight).

I'm going to annoy you by saying that we've got two mega
exciting announcements to make over the next few days, but we can't say what they are yet (as others are involved). One
involves a bunch of national newspapers and the other is to do with Festival Awards and the continent of Europe. Stay posted
friends, I really can't wait to spill the beans!

I just ran our Festival Matchmaker and it matched
me to T in the Park, Sonisphere and Oxegen based on my iPod. Have you tried it yet? Check it out here!

Next time I'll be writing from the mud on shores of Loch Ness. Take it easy!